skydiving

Skydiving

Skydiving originated from military parachuting and has grown into a giant sport today. The excitement and the thrill that this sport provides have pulled in participants from all over the globe.

Modern skydivers free-fall from a height of 12,000 feet and open their chutes at 2,500 feet. The sport has developed to the extent that any person can be trained to skydive with four hours of training on the ground.

By controlling the position of the body while free falling the divers are able to maneuver. Today the chutes themselves have cables and mechanisms that can steer the diver and provide a soft landing.

At the outset of parachuting the chutes were circular but nowadays a lot of research is going into the design of the chute. Conventionally the chutes are called Ram-air chutes and are rectangular with a double surface to them. The chute unfolds to form a shape similar to an aircraft wing and allows the diver to be up in the air longer. Now isn't that exciting?

Do you know that the first skydiving competition was held as early as 1930 in Russia? By 1936 Russia had 115 schools for training divers. Skydiving became an international sport in 1951 when five nations met for a competition.

Today the sport of skydiving has gone extreme. Diving from planes has become a tradition of the past. Now people dive from tall buildings, cliffs, bridges and any place that provides the minimum height required for the sport. The international competitions are held once in two years by an organisation called the Federation Aeronautics Internationale.

There are no particular skills that one needs to skydive. It is more a matter of letting go of your fears. Today the training provided for this sport is state of the art and cutting edge technology goes into the design of the chute and the gear.

There is nothing more exciting than to feel the wind rushing past the speed is an ultimate thrill and as the saving goes The sky is definite the fink.' So go for it.